Amarkhel, Atiqullah Gen ANA (retd)

3. Biodata:General Atiqullah Amarkhel Omarkhil is a former Commander in the Afghan Army who lives in Kabul.

Citing rampant corruption in the police ranks as a major cause for their involvement in various illicit activities, Atiqullah Amarkhel,alleged that police vehicles were used to smuggle narcotics and weapons across the country. (20110220)

Atiqullah Amarkhel, said that conducting nigh raids under the authority of the legislative entities was not possible as such operations are that secret that even the special forces do not know the details about such operations until the last moment.(20120410)

Defence expert and retired general Atiqullah Amarkhel said ANA lacked the intelligence-gathering capacity that US forces had. The US currently has intelligence operations all over Afghanistan and acts forcefully, whereas the Afghan Government has failed even to prevent the enemy from infiltrating its own security forces. Our security officials are bluffing. Given that the Americans have superior equipment and resources to those of Afghan forces, it is obvious that the Afghans are going to face many problems.(20120423)

Atiqullah Amarkhel was less impressed, saying the peace council had achieved no progress towards ending the conflict since it was set up in 2009. The council itself is in question – it should have been dissolved. It has negotiated with Pakistan just to demonstrate its achievements, to secure its own survival. He said pledges of good faith from Islamabad were not to be trusted, since its real stategy involved controlling Afghanistan by providing covert assistance to the Taleban to undermine security.(20121123)